Encounter

Walking to work this morning, I turned onto the path into Innovation Place and noticed movement out of the corner of my eye. I looked up and there was a coyote trotting across the field. I'm sure he* saw me, but he maintained his steady pace. When he reached the path he paused and turned to look at me. We gazed at each other for a brief moment and then he continued on, across the ditch and up onto the railroad embankment.

I assumed he was gone across the tracks and I continued walking. But then I realized he had stopped on the tracks, partly hidden from me by some trees. He was using the higher vantage point to look around (and keep an eye on me). I kept walking slowly until I was parallel with him, maybe 50 feet away. He didn't move. Again we looked at each other. I could see him quite clearly. He looked healthy and confident.

After a moment he turned and continued along the train tracks. I continued walking as well and for a brief time we kept pace with each other. Then he turned away from me and dropped out of sight down the far side of the embankment.

I crossed over to the train tracks to see where he was headed. He had only been out of sight for seconds, and I could see a long way across the snowy fields, but there was no trace of him. Either he'd sprinted out of sight, or had somewhere nearby to hide.

I continued on to work, my spirits lifted by this brief encounter with something outside of human affairs.

* I'm using "he" because I don't like using "it", I have no idea whether he was male or female.

** The photo is mine but not from today.